After some additional public input and comment from the Brown County Commissioners, a new septic ordinance was passed last week.
The commissioners voted 2-1 to the ordinance, with President Jerry Pittman voting against the ordinance at the May 5 meeting. The regulation has been revised by a voluntary citizens’ committee over the past three years.
This regulation replaces one that has existed since 1997. Most Brown County’s residents are affected by the ordinance, as most Brown County’s homes use sewage treatment plants to dispose of waste. Only three areas have sewers: Nashville, Gnaw Bone, and Helmsburg.
“I’ve never had a problem with any code in Brown County that allows the installers to be approved and licensed, or with the enforcement laws and fines for putting teeth in. I’ve been advocating it all along, ”said Pittman.
“I have a problem with all of the unnecessary elements that have been put into this document that have already been covered by the state.”
Commissioner Diana Biddle voted in favor of the new regulation. She said this ordinance allows the health department more alternatives in installing new technologies that have been in development since 1997.
The most important part of the new regulation is that it outlines an administrative complaint process, she said.
“I believe a particular section should help with some people who have some hostility towards people in the health department,” Biddle said.
Commissioner Chuck Braden said some of the anti-regulation comments he received had little to do with the regulation itself, but rather with health department officials. The health department would be responsible for enforcing this ordinance.
Braden said he read this ordinance, the 1997 ordinance, and the Indiana Code before voting. He said the new regulation was “user-friendly”.
“I think it’s something the public can hold on to and understand a little better than this, and it’s easier to read than the 53 pages of unenforceable administrative code,” Braden said before submitting Biddle’s motion for approval of the regulation supported.
On April 21, the commissioners voted 2-1 on the regulation at first reading and Pittman voted against it.
A public hearing on Zoom was held on April 26th and comments for or against were accepted until May 3rd.
Pittman said he wanted to postpone a vote until the next commissioners’ meeting on May 19 to give him more time to read public comments submitted on the regulation.
Around 25 people attended the hearing on Zoom on April 26th. Before the meeting, the commissioners received four written opinions, two for and two against the regulation.
As of May 3, a total of 19 comments had been received, 10 in support of the regulation and nine against some supportive comments from members of the regulation committee and septic tank installers.
Speaking at the May 5 meeting, Biddle said she was “fairly pleased” that those wishing to attend or contribute had the opportunity to do so before the final vote.
She said she had comments from people who didn’t like the Zoom public hearing, but she said Zoom meetings resulted in more people attending face-to-face meetings than ever before.
“When we had personal meetings of the commissioners, we had 10 to 15 people in the audience. We currently have 62 online. That’s more than we usually ever have, ”she said.
“That would almost be a lot of standing room if we had them in the commissioners’ meeting room now, which happens maybe once a year.”
The state already has a long set of rules known as Rule 410, which are the minimum standards that all health departments in the county must adhere to. However, counties are allowed to set their own rules for the disposal and installation and use of sewage treatment plants, provided that the counties’ standards are no less strict than those of the state.
The proposed regulation contains 13 different articles: permits; Installation; Repair or replacement of systems; Technology; Installation inspections; Registration for septic tank companies; Inspections related to changes in use; Tourist homes and bed and breakfasts; possible violations; Punish; Administrative complaint; Validity and regulation in force.
Members of the Rewrite Committee – which is separate from the county health department – have stated that Brown, Monroe, and Bartholomew counties have soil types, land topography, water movement, and other factors not found anywhere else in the state. that the basic state rules will help ensure that the septic tanks continue to function here and the natural environment of the district is protected. Changes have also been made to help homeowners and plumbers understand what is required when they need to install a new sewer system.
The entire regulation can be read in the legal notice on bcdemocrat.com.
Force code
A local ordinance needs to be passed for the local health department to enforce Rule 410 of Indiana Administrative Law, Biddle said.
“The county has no teeth to get anybody to comply with because there is no enforcement component in the administrative code,” she said.
“If someone’s septic tank failed, the health department could write them a letter, but there really are no teeth in enforcing the administrative code without the language of the local ordinance.”
Biddle said the county, for example, has an ordinance that sets the speed limit on all county roads.
“There’s an Indiana administrative code under highways that gives speed recommendations, but without local ordinance, the county sheriff couldn’t enforce speed limits on those roads,” she said.
She added that this regulation refers to the requirements of rule 410.
“My concern is that without a local enforcement ordinance for people with failing septic tanks, the impact is not just from Brown County, but that the impact is wider since over 75 percent of Brown County is in the Monroe County’s Lake Monroe watershed.” said Biddle.
“Where is your prosperity going? It will go downstream. … Protecting our environment and protecting our waterways from disease and wealth that are of paramount importance to our health and safety. “
As a farmer whose family has owned Brown County land for generations, Pittman said he knew the impact such pollution can have.
“I am just as concerned about the environment as anyone,” he said.
However, he reiterated that the adoption of an ordinance that follows Rule 410 closely should be sufficient, with permission to approve and license the installers or fines for those who violate the ordinance should be sufficient.
Resident Tim Clark submitted 14 pages of comments and analysis of the regulation. He said no one objected to an ordinance that would allow the county to enforce rule 410.
“My specific question is where we deviate from the requirements of the Code and what the cost advantage and risk of this deviation is,” he asked the commissioners on May 5th.
“If you have any solutions in this regulation, I would like to know what the problem was.”
Residents Kevin Fleming and Paul Navarro also questioned the need for regulation that goes beyond state standards at the May meeting.
According to Biddle, the ordinance solves the problem of the county failing to initiate an appeal process if a resident rejects a health department decision and allows the use of newer purification technologies here.
“Where does it differ? I don’t think it’s that different from the administrative state code, ”she said.
The commissioners also worked with the Volunteers Committee to change the language in the regulation to be less restrictive, e.g. For example, using the “recommended distance” instead of the “maximum distance” when talking about the distance a septic tank should be from a structure.
Biddle said the ordinance also allows the health department to work with residents in solving problems with the sewer system, including a health department employee who worked with the South Central Community Action Program (SCCAP) to obtain grants, that help residents resolve septic problems.
“I think I can probably name at least five families that I know have been helped get grants from the SCCAP program to repair their septic tanks,” she said.
Erika Bryenton, who lives in Helmsburg, said she supported the regulation but had problems with Section 202, which requires sewage treatment plants to be installed or upgraded and then approved by the health department before construction can begin above the ground floor of a house or in front of a mobile home the property to be brought.
Health Department official John Kennard said there was a waiver of this requirement and was also included in the 1997 ordinance. He added that under rule 410, written permission to build septic tanks must be issued before construction can begin while this site is protected with yellow tape.
Septic Prescription Committee members Rich Hall and Clint Studabaker both spoke before a vote was held on May 5th.
Hall said the committee was aware of residents who wanted to know why certain changes to the state rule are included in the ordinance for Brown County. He said that was why preambles were added before each article explaining the reasoning.
“We have gathered a lot of information about the water quality and the condition of various septic tanks in the county,” said Studabaker of the data showing the need for a regulation.
“It’s not just opinions that have been discarded, but actual information that has been gathered and stored in one place. It was included in the various public sessions we had when we were developing this particular ordinance. “
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